Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

I present here a fuller version of the glossary included in the print version. This glossary covers‎ also those names and terms encountered in Yāqūt’s quotations from Ibn Faḍlān and not‎ found in the Mashhad recension.

ʿAbdallāh ibn Bāshtū al-Khazarī (§§3, 6, 8) the name of the Khazar who serves as the envoy from the king of the Bulghārs to the caliphal court. To judge by his name, ʿAbdallāh, he is a Muslim, a fact that has led some to suspect that he was a political activist working against the Khazar khaqanate. The name of his father is transcribed as “Bāšto” by Togan Reisebericht( , 3), “Bachtū” by Canard (Voyage, 28: see 96, n. 10), and “Bāshtū” by McK- eithen (Risālah, 27–28 and n. 14) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 3). It is not clear whether the final alif has a phonetic value or is alif al-wiqāyah, to indicate that the wāw is a long final vowel ū. See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:160–62. Abū Bakr (§47) Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (r. 11–13/632–34), the first of the four rightly-guided caliphs, dubbed “the Veracious” (al-Ṣiddīq). The Bulghār king calls Ibn Faḍlān “Abū Bakr the Veracious.” Just what the king means by this reference is not clear. Adhl (§34) the fourth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from the territory of the Ghuzziyyah. The name is transcribed as “Odïl” by Togan (Reisebericht, 32, n. 6), who identifies it as the modern river Uyïl (or Oyïl), as does Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 191, n. 303). “Uzil/Uïl”: Canard, Voyage, 48, 107, n. 134; “Udhil”: McKei- then, Risālah, 76, n. 199; “Ūdhil/Uil”: Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45; “Udil”: Frye, Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 42. Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Jour- ney, 97) gives its contemporary name as the “Oyil”; in Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223) it is the Uil. Āfr*n (§4) an otherwise unattested name of the Ṭāhirid outpost which the embassy reaches after crossing the Āmul desert. Popular candidates for the location are: Āfrīr (al-Dahhān, Risālah, 76, n. 1); Firabr (McKeithen, Risālah, 33–34, n. 42); Afirabr (Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 4, 224, n. 18).

1 1 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

It is probably a scribal error for Firabr, which seems the likeliest: Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 26. Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī (§4) a member of the caliphal force sent to combat Yūsuf ibn Abī l-Sāj, the ruler of Azerbaijan who had, in 304/916, ousted Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ṣuʿlūk, the Samanid governor of Rayy, Aḥmad’s own brother. After the defeat of Yūsuf ibn Abī l-Sāj, Aḥmad ibnʿ Alī was given control of Isfahan and Qum, and Rayy was put under the control of ʿAlī ibn Wahsudhān. On the assassination of ʿAlī ibn Wahsudhān, Ahmad ibn ʿAlī took control of Rayy without caliphal authority. Baghdad sent Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, Ibn Faḍlān’s patron, against him, but Muḥammad died in the campaign. Baghdad subsequently recognized Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī as the Abbasid governor of Rayy. He died in 311/924. See Canard, Voyage, 96–97, n. 20; McKeithen, Risālah, 31, n. 28. Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāshid ibn Ḥammād (§§1, 3, 14, 40–41, 44–47, 48–53, 58–59, 61, 63, 66–68, 70–71, 73–74, 80, 82, 88) the representative of the caliph al-Muqtadir on the embassy, delegated to read the official correspondence from Baghdad, to superintend the presentation of gifts to the Bulghār king and other local dignitaries, and to supervise the jurists and instructors sent with the embassy to instruct the Volga Bulghārs. Before the mission, he had been under the sponsorship of the powerful military commander Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān. Aḥmad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārazmī (§5) an otherwise unknown person, whose role in the embassy was to take over the running of the estate in Arthakhushmīthan and, presumably, provide the envoys with the money required by the Bulghār king to build his fort. Akhtī (§34) the seventh river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 33, n. 2), makes several suggestions as to which modern river it corresponds: the Buldurti, the Ashshi-Say, or the Ashshi- Ölenti. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 304) identifies it as the Ankaty. It is the “Ankhati/Grand Ankati” according to Canard (Voyage, 107, n. 134, though the name of the river is omitted in his translation), the “Akhatī” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 76, n. 202), and the “Akhtī/Ankati” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) transcribes it as “Akhati” and identifies it as the modern “Ankaty or

2 2 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Buldurti,” which corresponds to the Ankati on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungar- ians and Europe, 223). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (§9) cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muḥammad and the fourth, and last, of the rightly-guided caliphs (r. 35–40/656–61), greatly revered by Shiʿis. The cursing ofʿ Alī referred to in the text may be a survival from the days of Umayyad rule. Almish, Son of Shilkī see al-Ḥasan, Son of Yilṭawār. Āmul (§4) not to be confused with Āmul, the capital of Ṭabaristān, this is a city on the river Jayḥūn (Oxus, modern Amu Darya), present-day Chardzhou or Turkmenabat. Āmul marks an important crossing-place of the Jayḥūn on the historic route from Nishapur and Marw to Transoxania and beyond. The town of Farab (or Farabr/Firabr), a dependency of Bukhara, lay on the opposite bank. See Togan, Reisebericht, 6, n. 2; Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 168, n. 62; Le Strange, Lands, 403–4. Ardkwā (§9) a place in Khwārazm otherwise unattested, the inhabitants of which are known as al-Kardaliyyah. The commentators and translators, unable to decide on whether the wāw has a phonetic or simply a phonemic value, differ in transcribing the toponym: “Ardakuwâ,” according to Canard (Voyage, 33, 100, n. 50); “Ardkwa,” according to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 30, who renders the name of the inhabitants as “Ardakiwa”); “Ardakū or Ardakūwa,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 8, 225, n. 28). Ardn (§34) the fifth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 32, n. 7) suggests it is the modern Zhaqsibay (now dried up), just north of the Aral Sea. It is the “Erden” according, to Canard (Voyage, 48, 107, n. 134) who may take this form from Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 130), the “Ardan,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 76, n. 200), and even the “ʿArdin” (with a ʿayn), according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). It is the modern “Zhaqsibay or Kaldigayti,” according to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97); on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Kaldyigayti. Arthakhushmīthan (§§3, 5) one of the estates of Ibn al-Furāt in Khwārazm, according to Ibn Faḍlān.

3 3 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Yāqut (Muʿjam al-Buldān, 1.191.11) vocalizes it as arthakhushmīthan. The Mashhad manuscript reads arnkhshmthīn at folio 197a7 and artkhshmthīn at folio 197b8. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 122) suggests Arsakhushmisan, and Krachkovskiĭ (Puteshestvie, 56) reads Artakhushmathin, but neither elab- orates on their readings. Barthold (Turkestan, 148) suggests that it corresponds to modern Khojayli, in the Karakalpakstan region of Uzbekistan. Canard (Voyage, 96, n. 9) and McKeithen (Risālah, 27, n. 11) provide refer- ences to this location in other Arabic sources. Askil (§§69, 72) the name of a clan subject to the Bulghār king, given as Asghl by Ibn Rustah (Kitāb al-Aʿlāq, 141.11). Their king is allied to the Bulghār king through marriage. The clan seems to seek to dissociate itself from the Bulghār king’s conversion to Islam The tribal name is generally translated as a personal name: e.g., “King Eskel” by Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 59). See Zimonyi, Origins, 48–49; Golden, Introduction, 254; Róna-Tas,Hungarians and Europe, 225. Atrak, Son of al-Qaṭaghān (§§30–33) the military commander (sü-bašı) of the Ghuzziyyah Turks, who receives a letter from Nadhīr al-Ḥaramī, the embassy’s representative in Baghdad. There is some discussion as to whether the name of his father, written as al-qṭʿān in the manuscript, is a title or a proper name: Togan (Rei- sebericht, 142) discerns a Mongol origin. The Mashhad scribe writes the word with ʿayn where others see a ghayn: thus Togan (Reisebericht, 142); Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 188); Canard (Voyage, 105, n. 114); al-Dahhān (Risālah, 101); McKeithen (Risālah, 69, n. 175). See Golden, Introduction, 209; Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe, 225 for the use of ghayn and kāf in Arabic transcriptions of Turkic words after the sixth/twelfth century. Azkhn (§36) the third river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. It is “Irkhiz (Irgiz)” according to Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192), Canard (Voyage, 49: see 107, n. 138), and McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 212). It is “Arkhaz/Irgiz” accoding to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46); “Azhin” according to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 42), who identifies it as the modern “Irgiaz or Talovka” (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97). According to Togan, who reads azḥn (Reisebericht, 34, n. 3), it may refer to a small

4 4 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

river between Chaghan and Mocha. On Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223), it is the Irgiz. Bājāʿ (§36) the fourth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. This a further instance of the Mashhad scribe using a ʿayn where modern scholars would see a ghayn: bājāgh. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 4) suggests it is the modern river Mocha. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192) follows Togan. It is “Bâtchâgh/Motchka,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see 107, n. 138); and “Bājāgh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 4); McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 213); Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies the “Bajagh” as the modern “Mocha”; on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223), it is the Mocha. Bajanāk (§§35–36) Petchenegs, a nomadic or semi-nomadic Turkic people first reported east of the Caspian Sea and the second Turkic tribe encountered by the embassy on its route to the Volga Bulghārs. During the third/ ninth century, they migrated west, under pressure from the Ghuzziyyah. The Petchenegs, allies of the Byzantines, constituted an important force on the Pontic steppes and further west, near Kievan Rus. By the late third/ ninth century they had driven the Magyars to the Pannonian lowlands, where the state of Hungary was established. bāk (Yāqūt passage 4.2) one of the titles of the vice-regent, that is, the non- khaganal, ruler of the Khazars. See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:184–85; Golden, Introduction, 240; Róna-Tas,Hungarians and Europe, 233. bakand (§§11, 26) according to Ibn Faḍlān, he heard this Khwārazmian word for “bread” in Khwārazm and among the Ghuzziyyah. Baranjār, al- (§66) the name of a clan whose conversion to Islam was super- vised by Ibn Faḍlān. The name has been associated with the Khazar settlement in the Caucasus known as Balanjār. See McKeithen, Risālah, 111, n. 334; Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:221– 24 (“Bālānjār”); Zimonyi, Origins, 49 (“Baranjār/Balanjar”); Frye, Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 99; Róna-Tas,Hungarians and Europe, 224. Bārs al-Ṣaqlābī (§§3, 13, 52) one of the ghulāms, presumably a slave-soldier who accompanied the embassy. In the context of the account, his affiliation, indicated by the name al-Ṣaqlābī, would not necessarily identify him as a Bulghār but possibly as a member of the subject population of the

5 5 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Bulghār king. It is uncertain whether he is the Bārs who led a rebellion of four thousand Turk cavalry in an attack on Baghdad in 296/908: McK- eithen, Risālah, 28, n. 17. The name is usually transcribed as “Bāris,” and scholars disagree whether the origin of the name Bārs is Slavic (= Boris) or Turkic (meaning “leopard”): Canard, Voyage, 28, 96, n. 11; Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 4, 223, n. 11. Bāshghird (§§37–38) Bashkirs, the last tribe encountered before the embassy arrives at the confluence of the Volga and Kama. Not much is known about the Bashkirs in the fourth/tenth century, although they are mentioned in several Arabic-language geographical treatises as occupying territory in the Ural mountains. Baykand (§5) a town between Āmul and Bukhara, some two farsakhs from the latter. See Le Strange, Lands, 463; Barthold, Turkestan, 117–19; Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 168, n. 65. Bāynāj (§38) the fourth river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. The Mashhad scribe writes it as “yā*nāj” with an undotted consonant. It should be read “Bāynākh,” according to Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 4), and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194, n. 342) thinks it is the modern river Mayna. It is “Bâinakh,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51: see also 108, n. 145). It is “Bāynākh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 4), McKeithen (Risālah, 81, n. 229), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 24, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) gives it as the modern “Mania” (a misspell- ing of Maina/Mayna); on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223), it is the Mayna. Bghndī (§34) the first river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. The name is transcribed variously, with an initial yāʾ or bāʾ: “Yaghandî/ Tchagan” by Canard (Voyage, 48, 106, n. 128); McKeithen (Risālah, 73, n. 192); “Yaghindī” by al-Dahhān (Risālah, 104, n. 5); so too Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 41) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). Togan (Reisebericht, 32, n. 3) suggests it may be the modern Zhayïndï, near the river Emba. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 191) believes it to be the river Chagan near Uralsk (Oral), in northwest Kazakhstan; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungar- ians and Europe, 223), it may be the Chagan. Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the “Zhayindi.”

6 6 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Bīr tankrī (§18) a Turkic phrase translated and explained by Ibn Faḍlān as meaning “By God, by the One.” Tengri was the Turkic sky-god. See Canard, Voyage, 38, 103, n. 83; McKeithen, Risālah, 54–55, ns. 129–30. Bnāsnh (§38) the sixth river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 37 and 38, n. 6) has “Nbāsnh” but suggests that it is to be read as “Nyāsnah,” after Marquart, as does Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194). It is “Niyasnah,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51: see 108, n. 145), “Niyāsanah,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 82, n. 231), and “Nīyāsnah,” according to Lunde and Stone, who do not venture a modern identifica- tion (Ibn Fadlān, 25, 226, n. 49). It does not appear on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223). Bukhara (§§5–8) capital of the Samanid dynasty. See Le Strange, Lands, 460–63; Barthold, Turkestan, 100–17; Barthold [Frye], “Bukhārā.” Bulghār/Bulghārs (§§39–73) the destination of the embassy. The Turkic Volga Bulghārs established their state at the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers during the third/ninth century. By the beginning of the fourth/ tenth century they had entered into a dynamic trading relationship with the Samanids in Central Asia, whereby their territory became one of the principal emporia of the period, rivaling and, ultimately, outlasting those of the Khazars. The Volga Bulghārs adopted Islam in the early fourth/ tenth century and remained Muslims until the demise of their state in the wake of the attacks of the Mongols and their subsequent integration into the Golden Horde. City of Peace (§§4, 5, 13) the name used in the text for Baghdad, properly speaking the original Round City of Baghdad, founded by the caliph al-Manṣūr. Commander of the Faithful (§§2, 5, 8, 9, 40, 43–47, 69, 73) a rendering of amīr al-muʾminīn, a title held by the caliphs. dāʿī (§4) a reference in our text to the Zaydī al-Ḥāsan ibn al-Qāsim (d. 316/928). The title is used among several Muslim groups for their principal propa- gandists and missionaries. It became especially important in Shiʿi move- ments, where it was used as the title of the authorized spokesman of the spiritual leader, the Imam.

7 7 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Al-Ḥāsan ibn al-Qāsim was known as al-Dāʿī li-l-Ḥaqq, “the Prosely- tizer for the Truth,” and al-Dāʿī al-Ṣaghīr, “the Lesser Proselytizer,” to distinguish him from al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd ibn Muḥammad (d. 270/884), al-Dāʿī al-Kabīr, “the Greater Proselytizer.” His predecessor as ruler was his father-in-law, the warlord al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Uṭrūsh (i.e., “the Deaf,”; d. 304/917). In 301/914 al-Uṭrūsh had wrested control of Ṭabaristān from the Samanids and captured its capital Āmul, thanks to an alliance with the local potentate Ibn Qārin mentioned in the text. See Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 21; McKeithen, Risālah, 31, n. 32; Stroth- mann, “al-Ḥasan al-Uṭrūsh.” Dāmghān, al- (§4) the capital of the province of Qumis, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Simnān and Nishapur; at the time of the mission it was under Zaydī control. See Le Strange, Lands, 364–65. dānaq (§§7, 9) a weight measure, one sixth of the dīnār mithqāl, the dinar used as a unit of weight; also here one-sixth of a dirham. See Togan, Reisebericht, 112; Hinz, Islamische Masse, 11 (Persian, dāng). Dār al-Bābūnj (§97) the unidentified location of a synagogue. Togan (Reisebericht, 102–3, n. 4) speculates that it may have to do with the name Alphons or Adalphuns, thus “the house/dwelling of Alphons or Adalphuns.” Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 273, n. 959) suggests it may be a woman’s name. See McKeithen, Risālah, 159, n. 559. Daskarah, al- (§4) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Nahrawān and Ḥulwān. It probably originated as a caravan post that, at the time of the mission, had developed later into an important town on the Khurasan road. See Le Strange, Lands, 62; Duri, “Daskarah.” dinar (§§14, 31, 45, 77) an Islamic gold coin. See Miles, “Dīnār.” dirham (§§7, 9, 11, 23, 39, 41, 45, 75, 77) a silver coin weighing usually about three grams and produced in enormous numbers. They circulated within the Islamic caliphate and were exported as payment for goods in long-distance trade. About half a million whole or fragmentary dirhams have been found across the vast trading networks of eastern and northern Europe. It is estimated that, during the first half of the fourth/tenth century alone,

8 8 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

about 120 million dirhams were transported along the route taken by Ibn Faḍlān from the territory of the Samanids to the Volga Bulghārs. See Miles, “Dirham.” Faḍl ibn Mūsā al-Naṣrānī, al- (§§5–6) an otherwise unknown person. The account notes that he was the fiscal agent of the estate in Arthakhushmīthan owned by the ousted vizier Ibn al-Furāt, which was to provide the envoys with the money required by the king of the Bulghārs to build his fort. Falūs (§14) the name of the guide hired by the embassy in al-Jurjāniyyah and possibly representing qılavuz, a Turkic word for guide. Canard (Voyage, 102, n. 71) thinks it may be a “proto-Bulgharian honorific.” See Togan, Reisebericht, 17, n. 5; Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 225, n. 34. farsakh (§§8, 39, 50, 53, 67) a measure of distance, usually just short of six kilometers. See Hinz, “Farsakh”; Hinz, Islamische Masse, 62 (Persian farsaḫ). Gate of the Turks (§§5, 15) the name of a garrison outpost maintained at Zamjān by the Samanid emirate, on the edge of Turkic territories. See Canard, Voyage, 102, ns. 72–73. ghiṭrīfī dirham (§7) a low-value dirham that became the common currency in the region from the third/ninth century on. In theory, six ghiṭrīfī dirhams equaled one silver dirham, but there was considerable fluctuation in value. It was named after al-Ghiṭrīf ibnʿ Aṭāʾ al-Jurashī who from 175 to 177 (ca. ad 791–93) was governor of Khurasan. According to legend, his brother al-Musayyab also minted coins known as musayyabī dirhams, but they were, in fact, named after an earlier governor of Khurasan, al-Musayyab ibn Zuhayr al-Ḍabbī: see §14, 31. Theghiṭrīfī dirham became the common currency in the region from the third/ninth century onwards. See Togan, Reisebericht, 111–13; Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 171, n. 85; Barthold, Turkestan, 204–7; Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage, 29–31; Bosworth, “al-Ghiṭrīf b. ʿAṭāʾ”; Frye, Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 88–90. Ghuzziyyah (§§18–34) the Oghuz, also known in Arabic as the Ghuzz, the first Turkic tribe encountered by the embassy after crossing the Ustyurt. They were an important tribe, whose earliest recorded home was northeast of the Caspian Sea. In the fourth/tenth century they began moving west into the Khazar khaqanate and ultimately played a role in its downfall.

9 9 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Gog and Magog (§§68, 98) a ferocious people, trapped, according to the Qurʾan, by Dhū l-Qarnayn (Alexander the Great) behind a great wall (Q 18, Sūrat al-Kahf). The collapse of the wall signaled the onset of the End Time, when Gog and Magog would wreak destruction on the earth. Hamadhān (§4) modern Hamadhan in Iran, a major town, the capital of the province known as the Jibāl, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Qirmīsīn and Sāwah. See Le Strange, Lands, 194–96, 227–29; Frye, “Hamadhān.” Ḥāmid ibn al-ʿAbbās (§41) a financier (223–311/837–923) who became especially prominent as vizier (306–11/918–23) during the reign of al-Muqtadir. He became al-Muqtadir’s vizier in Jumada 306/November 918 and was in post at the time of the embassy. In Rabiʿ al-Thani 311/August 923 he was replaced by Ibn al-Furāt. See Massignon, “Ḥāmid b. al-ʿAbbās”; van Berkel, Accountants and Men of Letters, 161–63. Ḥammawayh Kūsā (§4) Ḥammawayh ibn ʿAlī, Samanid general and military commander of Khurasan. “Kūsā” is a nickname meaning “beardless.” His formal title, ṣāḥib jaysh Khurāsān (field marshal of Khurasan), was the Arabic equivalent of the Persian title sipahsālār. See Barthold, Turkestan, 240–41; Togan, Reisebericht, 5–6, n. 8; Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 22; McKeithen, Risālah, 32, n. 35. Ḥasan, Son of Yilṭawār, al- (§2) the name of the Bulghār king of the Ṣaqālibah, in the context of his letter to al-Muqtadir’s court. Almish, son of Shilkī, is the name by which Atrak, son of al-Qaṭaghān, refers to him in a Turkic context in §33, when the Ghuzziyyah leaders are debating the fate of the embassy. Atrak also refers to the king as his “son-in-law.” The quotation of §2, given by Yāqūt (Muʿjam al-buldān, 1.743.11), refers to the king in a third variant: Almis, son of Shilkī Bilṭawār (blṭwār is either a misreading of Yilṭawār by the scribe of the Mashhad manuscript or an Arabic attempt to represent a Bulghār pronunciation of the Turkic title elteber). The king acquires a fourth name in our text, Jaʿfar, son of ʿAbdallāh, and two new titles, “king of the Bulghārs” and “emir of the Bulghārs” (§44). This is when Ibn Faḍlān sanctions the king’s conversion to Islam by approving his Muslim name and gubernatorial title for the Friday oration. Ibn Rustah, Kitāb al-Aʿlāq, 141.9 refers to him as almsh and identifies him as a Muslim.

10 10 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Most editors and translators of this passage (§2) provide a hybrid com- bination of the version of the name given in §33 and the version given by Yāqūt: so, for instance, Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 25) renders it as “Almish ibn Shilki the Yiltawar (Elteber).” See the explanation given for the recon- struction of the name by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 222, n. 3). I can see no reason that the king should not be known by a variety of names in various regnal or tribal contexts. The version of his name given in §2, al-Ḥasan, son of the Elteber, declares his Muslim identity and expresses that he, unlike his father, is not a Khazar subordinate. It also aligns Ibn Faḍlān’s information from 309/921 with the information provided about a decade earlier by Ibn Rustah about the Bulghār king’s adoption of Islam. The version of his name given in §33 is entirely in keeping with the Turkic context in which it is used—it is used by a Ghuzziyyah chief who has not yet, as Ibn Faḍlān tells us, embraced Islam. The name the king acquires in §47 is emblematic of his integration into the Abbasid polity as the loyal subject of his patron al-Muqtadir. See Zimonyi, Origins, 125–29; Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe, 225–26. Ḥulwān (§4) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between al-Daskarah and Qirmīsīn. See Le Strange, Lands, 191–92; Lockhart, “Ḥulwān.” Ibn Faḍlān see Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān. Ibn al-Furāt (§§3, 5, 6) Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn al-Furāt (241–312/855–924), an important financier and politician in the early fourth/tenth century who had been deprived of the office of vizier at the time of the embassy and imprisoned. This is the reason that one of his mulcted estates could be used to provide the funding designated for building the Bulghār fort. He held the vizierate three times: from Rabiʿ al- Awwal 296/December 908 to Dhu l-Hijjah 299/July 912, from Dhu l-Hijjah 304/June 917 to Jumada 306/November 918, and from Rabiʿ al-Thani 311/ August 923 to Rabiʿ al-Awwal 312/June 924. Ibn Qārin (§4) Sharwīn ibn Rustam ibn Qārin, the ispahbad (local governor) of Firrīm, encountered by the embassy in al-Dāmghān; a descendant of the Qarinid dynasty of Ṭabaristān and ally of the Zaydī ruler al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Uṭrūsh, in territories around the Caspian. He would have been no friend of the mission.

11 11 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

See Rekaya, “Ḳārinids”; Togan,Reisebericht , 5–6, n. 8; Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 21; Madelung, “The Minor Dynasties,” 205. Itil (§§50, 67, 68, 74, 96) the usual Arabic name for the river Volga and for the capital city of the Khazars on the banks of the Volga delta. It is used in the text also for the Bulghār trading emporium on the bank of the Volga. See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:224–29. Jaʿfar (§44) the given name of the caliph al-Muqtadir (Abū l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad al-Muʿtaḍid), given to the king of the Volga Bulghārs by Ibn Faḍlān to mark his membership in the Islamic polity. Jākhā (§36) the second river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 2) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 313) identify it as the river Chagan, a tributary of the Ural. It is “Jakhâ/Tchagan,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: and see 107, n. 138), and “Jākhā,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 211) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Chagan”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223) it may be the Chagan. However, Togan and Kovalevskiĭ, followed by Canard, also identify the Bghndī as the Chagan. Perhaps the mission crossed the same river or tributaries of the same river twice. Jākhsh (§34) the third river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 32, n. 5) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 191, n. 303) identify it as the Saġïz in Kazakhstan. It is “Jakhch/Saghiz,” according to Canard (Voyage, 48, 107, n. 134); and “Jākhsh,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 76, n. 198) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the “Saghir”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Sagiz. Jām (§34) The second river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 32, n. 4) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 191, n. 302) identify it as the Emba. It is “Jam,” according to Canard (Voyage, 48, 107, n. 134) or “Jām,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 76, n. 197) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Emba”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Emba.

12 12 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Jāwashīghar (§90A) the title given to the deputy of the kundur khāqān among the Khazar. According to Klyashtorny the word is an abbreviation of an honorific that he explains as “head of the royal falcon hunting.” Transcribed as “Ǧāwšiġr” and “Ǧawšïġïr” by Togan (Reisebericht, 99 and 260–63), “Jâwchîghr” by Canard (Voyage, 85, 127, n. 343), “Jāwshīghr” by McKeithen (Risālah, 154–55, n. 546), “Jaushighir” by Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 75), and “Jawshīghīr” by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 55, 229, n. 88). See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:191–92; Klyashtorny, “About One Khazar Title.” Jāwshīn (§38) the seventh river crossed by the caravan, after its departure from Bāshghird territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 38, n. 1) suggests that it may be the Aqtay. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194, n. 345) notes that it may also be read “Jawshīz.” It is “Djawchîz,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51: see also 108, n. 145), “Jāwshīz,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 6) and McKeithen (Risālah, 82, n. 232), “Jaushir (or Jaushiz),” according to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 43), and “Jāwshīr/Aqtay or Gausherma,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 25, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) gives it as “Jawshir” and identifies it as the “Aqtay or Gausherma.” Most scholars locate this river in Bulghār territory and note that Ibn Faḍlān here pur- ports to have crossed a river before he could have reached it. Jāwshīr (§69) a river in Bulghār territory, presumed to be the river referred to earlier in the Mashhad manuscript as Jāwshīn. It is transcribed as “Jawchîz” by Canard (Voyage, 116, n. 237), as “Jāwshīz” by McKeithen (Risālah, 117–18, n. 367), and as “Jāwshīr/Aqtay” by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 42, 228, n. 75). Jayhānī, al- (§5) several viziers of Bukhara had this affiliation. Ibn Faḍlān may be referring to the Jayhānī credited with a famous geographical work entitled The Book of the Routes and the Realms (Kitāb al-Masālik wa-l- mamālik), which has not survived. See Pellat, “Al-Djayhānī”; Göckenjan and Zimonyi, Orientalische Berichte. Jayḥūn (§§4, 10, 13) the Oxus, an important river in Turkestan, known today as the Amu Darya. See Spuler, “Āmū Darya.”

13 13 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Jaykh (§36) the first river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. The word is written as ḥ*j by the Mashhad scribe. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, ns. 1 and 2) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 311) identify it as the modern Ural. It is “Jaikh,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49, 107, n. 137), “Jaykh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 1, and McKeithen, Risālah, 76, n. 210), and even “Jāyikh,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Ural,” which, in several local languages and dialects, was called “Jaykh,” in Kazakh-Kyrgyz, Zhayiq and in Bashkir, Yayiq (see Togan, Reisebericht, 34, n. 1); on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223) it is the Ural. Jīt (§15) a way station known to some Arabic geographers, after the entry into the Ustyurt, via the Gate of the Turks, at Zamjān. See Canard, Voyage, 102, ns. 72–73; McKeithen, Risālah, 51, ns. 116–17. Jrmsān (§38) the first river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 1) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194, n. 339) identify it as the Cheremshan (or Chirimshan), in Tatarstan. It is “Djaramsan,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51), “Jaramshān,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 81, n. 226), and “Jirimshān” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 1) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 24, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the “Chirimshan”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungar- ians and Europe, 223) it is the Cheremshan. Jurjāniyyah, al- (§§8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 23, 39) Gurganj, Khwārazm’s second city (commercially more vibrant than Kāth), probably corresponding, to some extent, to modern Konya-Urgench. Canard (Voyage, 99, n. 47) thinks that the distance of fifty farsakhs given by Ibn Faḍlān may be an exaggeration or a miscalculation. See Le Strange, Lands, 445; Spuler, “Gurgandj.” Kardaliyyah, al- see Ardkwā. Khadhank (§§34, 60, 69, 82, 88) a type of tree thought by many to be the birch. Róna-Tas (Hungarians and Europe, 226) argues that it is an Arabicized form of the Bulghār word for “birch,” hazing. See Canard, Voyage, 106–7, n. 131, 115, n. 210, 117, n. 243. Khalanj (Yāqūt passage 6.7–6.8) a type of tree thought by some to be the maple, by others the birch, often confused withkhadhank .

14 14 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

See Canard, Voyage, 106–7, n. 131. khāqān (§§90–91) in Ibn Faḍlān’s account, the title of the ruler of the Khazars. It is a well-known Turkic title of obscure origin. Among the Khazars the khāqān became increasingly sacral and taboo. The office had ceremonial aspects, and the khāqān could even be sacrificed in difficult times, according to al-Masʿūdī (Murūj al-dhahab, 1.215.3–7; and see §453, 1.214.14–215.9 generally). See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:192–96; Golden, “The Question of the Rus’ Qaǧanate”; Golden, Introduction, 240. Khāqān Bih (§90) the title of the deputy of the Khazar khāqān. Bih is clearly cognate with beg, the old Turkic title for a tribal chieftain. Canard (Voyage, 84, 126–27, n. 340) renders it “Khâqân Beg,” McKei- then (Risālah, 154, n. 543) “Khāqān Beh,” Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 75) “Khaqan Bih,” and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 55) “khāqān beg.” See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:162–65; Golden, Introduction, 240. Khaz (§96) the title given to the Muslim ghulām of the Khazar khāqān, who had executive and judicial authority over the Muslims resident in the Khazar capital. Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 77) suggests “Khaz (Khan?).” See Canard, Voyage, 87; McKeithen, Risālah, 159, n. 556; Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 57, 229, n. 90. Khazar/Khazars (§§1, 33, 67, 72, 90–98) the most powerful Turkic group on the Eurasian steppe at the time of the mission, ruled by the khāqān. The Khazar khaqanate emerged in the early first/seventh century and remained for centuries the most important political entity on the Eurasian steppe. It occasionally entered into alliances with Byzantium and fought off Muslim incursions via the Caucasus in the first/seventh and second/ eighth centuries, after which it established a more peaceful relationship with the caliphate, mainly through trade. The Arabic sources note that the Khazars converted at some point to Judaism, or at least the elite surround- ing the khaqanal house did. The description of the Khazar polity and regnal customs that exists only in the form of a quotation by Yāqūt seems to have been appended by Ibn Faḍlān (or, according to some, by a later redactor) as an addendum to his notice on the King of the Rūs. The embassy did not visit the Khazar khaqanate.

15 15 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Khljh (§§67, 69) the name in the text for the three lakes where the embassy first meets the Bulghār king. The lakes are identified by KovalevskiĭKniga ( , 218, n. 564) as the modern “Chistoe Ozero,” “Kuryshevskoe Ozero,” and “Atmanskoe Ozero.” He believes that the word is akin to Chuvash khel(-le), meaning “winter.” According to Togan (Reisebericht, 38–39, n. 1, and 68) it is “Ḫalǧah,” and he identifies it as the lakes of the village of Tri Ozera (Russian, “three lakes”) some five or six kilometers from the Volga, just south of Bulghār, named Poganoe, Lebiad, and Troshchanoye. Canard (Voyage, 66) transcribes it as “Khallaja/Khelletché” and McKeithen (Risālah, 112, n. 339) as “Khallajah.” Khurasan (§§4–6, 47) a historical region of Persia and Turkestan. In Ibn Faḍlān’s time its borders were marked approximately in the west by the towns of al-Dāmghān and Jurjān and in the northeast by the river Jayḥūn. See Le Strange, Lands, 382–432; Bosworth, “Khurasan.” Khuwār al-Rayy (§4) a town east of Rayy, on the Khurasan road. See Le Strange, Lands, 367. Khwārazm (§§3, 5, 8–9, 24, 26, 71) a region north of Khurasan, extending as far as the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, Khwārazm is used in the text also as the name of the region’s capital, Kāth, the residence of the khwārazm-shāh. See Le Strange, Lands, 446–59; Bosworth, “Kāth”; Bosworth, “Khwārazm.” khwārazm-shāh (§8) the ancient Iranian title of the rulers of Khwārazm. The Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty ruled the area, remaining in power until the Mongol invasion. In Ibn Faḍlān’s time the person holding this title was Muḥammad ibn ʿIrāq, who governed in the name of the Samanid emir. See Bosworth, “Khwārazm-Shāhs.” Kījlū (§36) the eighth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 8) identifies it as the Kundurcha, pointing out the existence of a nearby village named Kijläw, on the lesser Cheremshan (see Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 192, n. 319). It is “Konjulû,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138), and “Kunjulū,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 79, n. 217) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Kundurcha”; on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223), it is the Kundurcha.

16 16 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

Knāl (§36) the sixth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 6) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 317) read “Kināl” and identify it as the modern river Kinel. It is “Kinâl” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138) and “Kināl,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 6); McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 215), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) gives it as the modern “Kenel”; on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223) it is the Kinel. kūdharkīn (§§24, 26, 29) the title given to any Ghuzziyyah noble who acts as deputy (khalīfah in the text) of the king of the Ghuzziyyah. There is no agreement on the meaning or etymology of the term. Togan (Reisebericht, 141) traces it to the Turkic phrase kül erkin. See Canard, Voyage, 104, n. 100; McKeithen, Risālah, 62, n. 150; Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 225, n. 38; Golden, Introduction, 209. Kundur Khāqān (§90A) the title given to the deputy of the khāqān bih among the Khazars. Transcribed as “kundur khāqān” by Canard (Voyage, 85, 127, n. 342) and as “kundar” by McKeithen (Risālah, 154–55, n. 546) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 55, 229, n. 88). See Togan, Reisebericht, 260; Minorsky, Ḥudūd al-ʿālam, 323–24; Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:200–202; Golden, Introduction, 240. Līlī ibn Nuʿmān (§4) a Daylamī general who served the Caspian Zaydīs al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Uṭrūsh and al-Ḥasan ibn Qāsim. The latter appointed him to the governorship of Jurjān. In early 309/921, just before the departure of the embassy, he had occupied al-Dāmghān and Nishapur but was captured and killed by the Samanid field marshal Ḥammawayh Kūsā in Rabiʿ al-Awwal, 309/July–August, 921, as the embassy was moving through Khurasan. See Togan, Reisebericht, 5–6, n. 8; Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 21; McKei- then, Risālah, 32, n. 34. Lesser Yināl see Yināl. Mann (Yāqūt passage 5.9) a unit of weight common in Central Asia and Persia. See Rebstock, “Islamic Weights and Measures,” 2261. Marw (§§4, 6, 31, 33) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Sarakhs and Qushmahān, which was the source of some of the textiles presented by the embassy to local potentates.

17 17 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

See Le Strange, Lands, 397–403; Yakubovskii [Bosworth], “Marw al-Shāhidjān.” Muḥammad (§66) an alternate version of Ibn Faḍlān’s given name Aḥmad. The Prophet Muḥammad was also known as Aḥmad (see Q Ṣaff 61:6). Muḥammad ibn ʿIrāq see khwārazm-shāh. Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (§1) the redoubtable secretary of the Army Bureau, who defeated the Qarmaṭians in Syria in 291/903, wrested Egypt from Ṭulunid control in 292/905, and had been trying to maintain order in the eastern empire. He died in the caliphal campaign against Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, who had seized control of Rayy upon the assassination of the Abba- sid governor, ʿAlī ibn Wahsudhān. His death would have meant that Ibn Faḍlān was without a principal patron, though Ibn Faḍlān seems also to have secured the patronage of the caliph in Baghdad. It was possible for a person to enjoy the patronage of more than one patron at the same time, though perhaps Ibn Faḍlān was a member of the caliph’s household and functioned under the patronage of Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān. See McKeithen, Risālah, 24, n. 2; Bonner, “The Waning of Empire,” 339; Brett, “Egypt,” 562–63. Muqtadir, al- (§§1–3, 44) the ruling caliph (r. 295–320/908–32) when Ibn Faḍlān’s embassy made its journey. His full name was Abū l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad al-Muʿtaḍid, and his regnal title al-Muqtadir bi-llāh, “Mighty in God.” See van Berkel et al., Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court. musayyabī dinar (§§14, 31) the musayyabī was a coin of uncertain value said to have been minted in Transoxania by al-Musayyab, governor of Khurasan, especially common among Turkic peoples in northern Khwārazm. It is odd that they are described in the text as dinars, which were gold coins. Frye (Ibn Fadlan’s Journey, 88–90) wonders whether Ibn Faḍlān is con- fusing “real dinars or rare gold coins” with Khwarazmian coins and suggests that Ibn Faḍlān means “equivalents in value of so many musayyabi dirhams.” See Togan, Reisebericht, 111–13; Canard, Voyage, 102, n. 70; Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage, 29–31; Bosworth, “al-Ghiṭrīf b. ʿAṭāʾ.” Nadhīr al-Ḥaramī (§§3, 31, 41) a powerful eunuch at al-Muqtadir’s court. He presents the Bulghār king’s letter to the caliph and organizes the finances of the mission. He is the mawlā (patron) of the caliph’s envoy, Sawsan

18 18 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

al-Rassī, and provides the mission with letters to Atrak, son of al-Qaṭaghān, the Ghuzziyyah military commander, and to the Bulghār king. See Canard, Voyage, 95, n. 7, and McKeithen, Risālah, 26, n. 9, for refer- ences in Arabic sources. Nahrawān (§4) the first town east of Baghdad reached by the mission after their departure. See Le Strange, Lands, 61. Naṣr ibn Aḥmad (§5) Naṣr (r. 301–31/914–23) became the Samanid emir of Khurasan as an eight-year-old boy. When Ibn Faḍlān visited him in 309/921 he would have been only fifteen or sixteen years old. See Bosworth, “Naṣr b. Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl.” Nishapur (§4) a town in Khurasan under Samanid control at the time of the mission. See Le Strange, Lands, 382; Honigmann [Bosworth], “Nīshāpūr.” Qaṭaghān, al- see Atrak, son of al-Qaṭaghān. Qirmīsīn (§4) a town, modern Kermanshah, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Ḥulwān and Hamadhān. See Le Strange, Lands, 400. Qushmahān (§4) a town on the edge of the Karakum desert, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Marw and Baykand. raṭl (§11) a common, variable measure of weight. See Ashtor, “Maḳāyil”; Hinz,Islamische Masse, 27–33. Rayy (§4) an important town on the Khurasan road, between Hamadhān and Khuwār al-Rayy. At the time of the mission, it had been, for many years, the focus of the struggle for regional domination between the caliphate in Baghdad and the Samanids. Its ruins lie in the southern suburbs of present-day Tehran. See Le Strange, Lands, 214–18; Minorsky, “Al-Rayy.” ruknī dinar (Yāqut passage 5.9) a gold coin of wide circulation in Khurasan and Central Asia. Rūsiyyah (§§72, 74–89) also known in Arabic as al-Rūs, one of the marvels wit- nessed by Ibn Faḍlān while in the custody of the king of the Bulghārs, a mysterious group of traders and raiders that continues to fascinate more than a millennium after Ibn Faḍlān encountered them. Their identity in Arabic writings has long been debated, not least with regard to the hom- onymous state (known as Rus’) that emerged during the fourth/tenth

19 19 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

century. In Ibn Faḍlān’s account, the Rūs are traders who set up camp on the bank of the Itil (Volga) and thus in or near Bulghār lands, and we are given a unique eyewitness description of their community. Samanids a Persian dynasty, rulers of Transoxania and then of Khurasan (204– 395/819–1005). At the time of the mission, the Samanid ruler, Naṣr ibn Aḥmad, acknowledged the suzerainty of the caliph and went by the title of “emir.” See Bosworth, “Sāmānids.” samarqandī dirham (§7) a specific type of coin said by Ibn Faḍlān to be made of yellow brass and to equal six dānaqs. See also Frye, Notes on the Coinage, 29–31. Ṣaqālibah (§§1, 2, 3, 8, 39, 66, 72, 97) a name used in Arab-Islamic geographical and historical works, from the third/ninth century on, for certain northern peoples whose ethnic identity is not readily ascertainable. It may refer occasionally to Slavic peoples but seems generally to have a less specific connotation. At §97 it seems to denote the Finno-Ugrian peoples who live in the territories neighboring the Khazar realm. Throughout Ibn Faḍlān’s account, the ruler of the Bulghārs is called the “king of the Ṣaqālibah” (§§1, 2, 3, 8, 39, 66, 72). Sarakhs (§§4, 6) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Nishapur and Marw. See Le Strange, Lands, 395–96; Bosworth, “Sarakhs.” Sāwah (§4) a caravan town (modern Saveh) on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Hamadhān and Rayy. See Le Strange, Lands, 210–12; Minorsky [Bosworth] “Sāwa.” Sawsan al-Rassī (§§3, 42, 52) eunuch and freedman, under the patronage of Nadhīr al-Ḥaramī; the most important member of the embassy, the envoy of the caliph. Togan (Reisebericht, 3–4, n. 6) identifies him as Sawsan al-Jaṣṣāṣī. The name al-Jaṣṣāṣī indicates that he was a member of the household of Ibn al-Jaṣṣāṣ al-Jawharī. It was Sawsan al-Jaṣṣāṣī who betrayed Ibn al-Muʿtazz (d. 289/902), the caliph who ruled for a day, to al-Muqtadir’s men. Simnān (§4) a town (modern Semnan) some two hundred kilometers east of present-day Tehran, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Khuwār al-Rayy and al-Dāmghān; at the time of the mission it was under Zaydī control. See Le Strange, Lands, 366; Bosworth, “Simnān.” Sind (§61) the region around the lower course of the Indus river.

20 20 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

See Haig [Bosworth] “Sind.” Smwr (§36) the fifth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 5) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 316) identify it as the modern Samara, one of the major tributaries of the lower Volga. It is “Samûr,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138), “Samūr,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 5), McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 214), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) has “Samara”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Samara. Sūḥ (§36) the seventh river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 7) reads “Sūkh” and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 318) “Sūḥ.” Both identify it as the modern Sok (or Soq, Suk). According to Canard, it is “Sûkh,” (Voyage, 49,) and “Sâkh/Sokh” (Voyage, 107, n. 138). It is “Sūkh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 7), McKeithen (Risālah, 79, n. 216), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Sok”; on Róna- Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Sok. Sujū, al- (§43) apparently a honey drink—perhaps a kind of mead—drunk by the Bulghār king. The word is a transcription of süčü: Togan, Reisebericht, 44, n. 2; Róna-Tas,Hungarians and Europe, 226. There is disagreement about whether the drink is intoxicating or not: Canard, Voyage, 109, n. 156; al-Dahhān, Risālah, 116, n. 6; McKeithen, Risālah, 87, n. 254. Note, however, that Ibn Faḍlān does not say that he consumed this honey drink but that the king did. It is Yāqūt’s quotation of the passage that adds the phrase wa-sharabnā, “and we drank too.” Ṣuʿlūk (§4) Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ṣuʿlūk, a Daylamī, the Samanid governor of Rayy from 289–304 to 912–16; brother of Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī and, at the time of the mission, the Abbasid governor of Rayy. See Canard, Voyage, 96–97, n. 20; McKeithen, Risālah, 31, n. 28. Suwāz (§69) name of a Bulghār clan whose members refuse to travel with the king, thus declaring their rejection of his conversion to Islam. There is consensus that the swān of the Mashhad manuscript is a copy- ist’s corruption of “Suwāz” (according to Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 222, n. 596,

21 21 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

they were the ancestors of the Chuvash). The integration of the Suwāz into the Bulghārs was represented by the later settlement known as Suwār. See Togan, Reisebericht, 203–10; Canard, Voyage, 116–17, n. 238; McKei- then, Risālah, 118, n. 369; Zimonyi, Origins, 42–45; Golden, Introduction, 255. Ṭāgh (§§11, 17) Togan (Reisebericht, 13) suggests that this is a tree of the ama- ranth genus Haloxylon, known by the Russian name saxaul. The saxaul ranges in size from a large shrub to a small tree, usually 2–8 meters tall. The wood is heavy and coarse and the bark spongy. The saxaul grows throughout the Middle East and Central Asia and is very hardy and drought-resis- tant. In addition to providing fuel for heating, the thick bark stores mois- ture, which may be squeezed out for drinking, making it an important source of water in arid regions. See Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 173, n. 119. Ṭāhir ibn ʿAlī (§4) Togan (Reisebericht, 6, n. 4) speculates that this may be Ṭāhir ibn ʿAlī al-Wazīr, who was in the service of Caliph al-Muktafī (r. 289–95/902–8). Takīn al-Turkī (§§3, 8, 13, 16, 52, 68) a member of the caliphal embassy, presumably a “slave-soldier” of Turkic origin, who was very knowledgeable about the Turkic steppe peoples and the Volga Bulghārs. The local potentate of Khwārazm recognizes him as a prominent figure in the iron trade, which, in fourth/tenth-century terms, would also have implied that he worked as a weapons dealer. Tekin (or tegin) was a title designating close familial relationship to a khāqān, usually a son or a brother, and was frequently used as a proper noun. The name is variously transcribed as “Takīn,” by Togan (Reiseberi- cht, 4, n. 1), “Tekin” or “Tegin,” by Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 164, n. 33), “Tekîn,” by Canard (Voyage, 28, 96, n. 11), “Tekīn,” by McKeithen (Risālah, 28, n. 16), and “Tikīn,” by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 4, 223, n. 11). See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:186–87. Ṭanbūr (§83) a long-necked stringed instrument from Central Asia. Ṭarkhān (§33) the title of the most important member of the delegation of senior Ghuzziyyah figures convened by Atrak in order to consult about whether to permit the embassy to continue on its way. Togan (Reisebericht, 30, n. 3) notes that this is a well-known Turkic title, especially among the Khazars. McKeithen (Risālah, 71, n. 187) states

22 22 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

that “Ṭarkhān” is “a very ancient title indicating nobility… among Turks and Mongols.” See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:210–13; Golden, Introduction, 209. ṭāzijah (§9) a coin used in Khwārazm. See Togan, Reisebericht, 113–14; Canard, Voyage, 99, n. 48; Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage, 16–23; Frye, Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 88–90 (on the coins of Khwārazm). Turk/Turks (§§1, 5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 26–30, 32, 37, 65) a generic name for all the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia with whom the Mus- lims came into contact. In the translation, I use “Turkic” for the language the Turks speak, and “Turkish” for their camels and yurts. Ūrm (§38) the third river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. See Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 3). Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194) suggests it is the modern river Urm. Today, there is a village with the name Urm where Volga Bulghar inscriptions have been found. It is omitted by Canard in his translation and note: Voyage, 51, 108, n. 145. It is “Ūram,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 3) and McKeithen (Risālah, 81, n. 228), and “Uram/Urem,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 24, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Urem”; it is not drawn on Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223). Ūrn (§38) the second river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 2) suggests it is the river Ürän, which enters the Volga across from modern Ulyanovsk. Near the Ürän is a Tatar village called Ürän-bashi (see Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 194). It is “Uran,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51; see 108, n. 145), “Ūran,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 2) and McKeithen (Risālah, 81, n. 227), and “Uran,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 24, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97), identifies it as the modern “Uran”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Uren. Wārsh (§34) the sixth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 33, n. 1) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 304) identify it as the modern Qaldagayti (or Kandagayti) river. It is to be read as “Wakhch,” according to Canard (Voyage, 107, n. 134), who does not

23 23 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

include it in his translation of the passage; “Wārsh,” according to McK- eithen (Risālah, 76, n. 201) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45); and “Warish,” according to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 42). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Olenty or Kaldigayti.” Wbnā (§34) the eighth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Ghuzziyyah territory. Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 306) identifies it as the Lesser Ankaty river (Sholek Antaky), which empties into Shalkar lake, in southern Kazakh- stan. Togan (Reisebericht, 33, n. 3) suggests it may be read as “Wtbā” and correspond to the modern Utwa, which connects with the Ural river, but also points out that this would have been an unlikely detour for the embassy. It is the “Wtbā,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 106, n. 5), and the “Wabnâ,” according to Canard (Voyage, 48, 107, n. 134), followed by McKeithen (Risālah, 76, n. 203) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 22, 226, n. 45). According to Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97), it is modern “Utba.” Wīsū (§§50, 65, 68) according to the king of the Bulghārs, the Wīsū live three months’ travel north of the Bulghārs and trade with them. Togan (Reise- bericht, 55, n. 3) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 205, n. 475) agree that the Wīsū are the Veps. See Göckenjan and Zimonyi, Orientalische Berichte, 261–62, ns. 85–95. Wtīʿ (§38) the fifth river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory. Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 5) reads it as “Wtīgh” and identifies it as the Utka. It is “Watigh,” according to Canard (Voyage, 51 and see 108, n. 145, where he reads “Watighla/Utka”); “Watīgh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 5), McKeithen (Risālah, 82, n. 230), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 25, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Utka.” On Róna-Tas’s map Hungarians( and Europe, 223), it is the Utka. W*rʿ (§69) the name or title of a son-in-law of the Bulghār king, with whom the Suwāz clan ally themselves when they refuse to travel with the king and thus reject his conversion to Islam. According to Togan (Reisebericht, 75, n. 2), it is to be read “Wïyrïg” and reflects a Bulghār form of the ancient Turkic title buyrug (modern Turkish buyruk). Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 224, n. 604a) reads “Vyrag”; according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 140, n. 7) and

24 24 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

McKeithen (Risālah, 119, n. 372), it is to be transcribed as “Wīrigh” and, according to Lunde and Stone, as “Wīragh” (Ibn Fadlān, 42 and 228, n. 75). yabghū (§29) the regal title of the king of the Ghuzziyyah Turks. See Togan, Reisebericht, 140–41; Canard, Voyage, 105, n. 113; al-Dahhān, Risālah, 101, n. 1; Frye, “Some Early Iranian Titles,” 356–58; Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:187–90; Golden, Introduction, 209. Yāqūt Yāqūt ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (d. 626/1229), a biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings. “Al-Rūmī” (“the man from Rūm”) refers to his Byzantine origin, and “al-Ḥamawī” connects him with Ḥamāh, in Syria. In his topographical dictionary Kitab Muʿjam al-buldān, he included quotations from Ibn Faḍlān’s account, which remained the principal vestiges of the work until Togan’s discovery of the Mashhad manuscript in 1923. Yilghiz (§33) a member of the delegation of senior Ghuzziyyah figures convened by Atrak in order to consult about the embassy. The word is variously transliterated “Baghliz” by Canard (Voyage, 47), followed by McKeithen (Risālah, 72 and n. 190) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 21), “ʾĪlghz” by al-Dahhān (Risālah, 103), and “Ylgz (Yughrush?)” by Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 41). See Golden, Introduction, 209. yilik (Yāqūt passage 4.2) one of the titles of the vice-regent, that is, the non- khaganal ruler of the Khazars. See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:184–85; Golden, Introduction, 240; Róna-Tas,Hungarians and Europe, 233. Yilṭawār (§§2, 44) an arabicized form of the Turkic title elteber, written as blṭwār once in the Mashhad manuscript and in Yāqūt’s quotation of the opening of the text. It seems to have been conferred on the Bulghār king or his father or both, presumably by the Khazars, to indicate a ruler subordinate to the Khazar khāqān. Yināl (§§25, 33) apparently a title of a high-ranking Ghuzziyyah tribesman, used twice in the text. The first occurrence is qualified by the adjective al-ṣaghīr (“the younger” or “the lesser”), which may indicate age or status. It is possible that Ibn Faḍlān meets two men, the lesser Yināl (§25) and the Yināl (§33). The position of yināl is thought by some to designate the deputy of the kūdharkīn or the heir apparent to the yabghū.

25 25 Extended Glossary of Names and Terms

The word is transcribed “Yināl” by McKeithen Risālah( , 63, n. 157), “Yanal” by Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 37), and “Ināl” by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 21, 226, n. 43). See Golden, Introduction, 209. Zamjān (§15) a garrison post, referred to as the Gate of the Turks, the first stopover taken by the embassy on leaving al-Jurjāniyyah, on the edge of the Ustyurt. Zaydī/Zaydiyyah a branch of the Shiʿah, whose name comes from Zayd ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, who led a revolt in Kufa in 122/740. In Ibn Faḍlān’s text, the Caspian (and not the Yemeni) Zaydiyyah are meant, in particular the group known as the Nāṣiriyyah, who accepted leadership from among the descendants of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Uṭrūsh (d. 304/917), whose title was al-Nāṣir li-l-Ḥaqq, “he who brings victory to God’s Truth.” See Madelung, “Zaydiyya.”

26 26